Why On Earth Did American Renovate This Admirals Club?

I receive compensation for content and many links on this blog. You don’t have to use these links, but I am grateful to you if you do. American Express, Citibank, Chase, Capital One and other banks are advertising partners of this site. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own, and have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by my advertising partners. I do not write about all credit cards that are available -- instead focusing on miles, points, and cash back (and currencies that can be converted into the same).

The Dallas Fort Worth A Terminal Admirals Club has been renovated, and I’m not sure it’s better than it used to be. Of course I think that was the one Admirals Club in the system that needed renovations the least in my opinion.

Not everyone agrees with me, because one employee kept walking through the lounge talking aloud to himself and engaging customers marveling at how nice he believes it is.

Admirals Club Entrance

I liked the old false rock facade of American’s Dallas Fort Worth A terminal Admirals Club. Overall I found the lounge spacious and peaceful. Plus I liked some of its features.

The A terminal used to house international departures, so there had been a small Flagship Lounge in this club. It was the ‘secret room’ and very few people were ever in it. You turned left off the elevators and it was the room immediately on your left.

It also had a gym which is gone with the renovation

DFW Admirals Club A Concourse Pre-Renovation

I was last here in October when the lounge was partially open (mostly the bar area, where renovations had already been completed) and the rest closed off. They decided to speed up renovations by closing down the whole club, and as a temporary measure opened up a ‘service center’ about a gate away tucked back by Pappadeux. In some ways I liked it better — there were agents to assist you and all the bottled water you could take away.

DFW Temporary A Concourse Service Center, Since Closed

The A terminal Admirals Club is back open and this was my first time through.

It’s bright and the wood paneling upstairs reminds me more of the Chicago and Miami Flagship lounges than it does the new JFK Admirals Club. In a way it reminds me of the E Concourse Premium Lounge (former Admirals Club) in Miami.

I found the lounge to be perhaps too bright, and most of all sound carries a lot more with the refurbishment than it did in the old lounge. It was noisy throughout the bar area and lounge core.

I found that the business center, and the back corner of what used to be the Flagship lounge were relatively quiet though.

Breakfast was on, and this isn’t one of the lounges with avocado toast at this point.

The ceiling beside the kitchen in the bar area is reminiscent of the new Flagship lounge style.

Head to the other side of the lounge and you’re still not far from refreshments – in the form of a snack tower of sadness.

Internet response time for each new page call seemed slow, but speed was ok enough, I’d have hoped that an extensive lounge renovation might come with improved wifi but on this visit it seemed performance lagged what I was used to.

There are showers, and families will appreciate the small kids room.

Oddly they chose to place the Quiet Room beside the Kids Room.

The bathrooms in the former Flagship Lounge area are still private single use rooms, which is nice to have I suppose — especially since they’re large — but I would have liked for them to add a place to put a laptop bag besides balancing it on the sink or putting it on the floor.

To be clear I am fortunate to have access. There is nothing whatsoever wrong with this lounge per se, it is large with plenty of seating. I’m just not sure how the renovation makes it better.

More From View from the Wing

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

Editorial note: any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Comments made in response to this post are not provided or commissioned nor have they been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any bank. It is not the responsibility of any advertiser to ensure that questions are answered, either. Terms and limitations apply to all offers.

Comments

The A lounge was a beautiful lounge before. I’d call the changes to this lounge more of a standardization than a renovation. I’ll miss the gym. Generally though, AA is doing a good job with its club renovations.

The clubs at CLT, however, are now some of the worst in the system. The B lounge may be the worst system wide. It is puzzling that AA does not have better clubs at an international gateway that is its second busiest hub. Neither club has showers.

Hah! Visited there earlier this month when they just opened with my kids and was also curious why the kids room was right next to the quiet area… Interior designer must be childless! Anyways, i like the theme, but that day found it quite warm inside, especially in the kids room.

Came here to agree that the “gym” really wasn’t a gym BUT more importantly if we’re talking about FAA rules and regulations if you are so hard core that you need to use a gym in transit you should be legally required to shower as well. Side rant, electronic sniffers are scarily good at this point and if you set one off you should be denied boarding BUT obviously what’s deemed a pleasant vs a bad smell is cultural so I don’t think there is an objective way to do it without being sued for discrimination. Unfortunately.

They renovated this club so that there is at least one club in the airport up to the current Admiral’s Club design standard during the year plus duration that the D club is closed and renovated into a Flagship Lounge + Admirals Club.

I thought this review a little too harsh Gary but it was probably good clickbait for the card links.
On my first use I found the renovated DFW Terminal A club light, airy and uncrowded. The work spaces are good and will be better when/if AA properly wires the cubicles and does away with the power strips.
I do find the standard snack offerings a bit — shall we say, tiring, if one flies a lot but I do think AA is trying harder than Delta when it comes to clubs.

I used to fly to Brazil, which had me in Miami a lot, with long layovers. I would change into running clothes, take a copy of my boarding pass and ID, and then jog in the parking structures (in the shade).

Coming back in, standing in the TSA precheck line, in just running clothes, no luggage and sweating gave me a lot of strange looks… but back in the club, and grab a shower, and you are ready to take on the world!

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.

Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

View from the Wing is a project of Miles and Points Consulting, LLC. This site is for entertainment purpose only. The owner of this site is not an investment advisor, financial planner, nor legal or tax professional and articles here are of an opinion and general nature and should not be relied upon for individual circumstances.

Advertiser Disclosure: Many (but not all) of the credit card offers on the site are from banks from which we receive compensation if you are approved. Compensation does not impact the placement of cards in content. Banner advertising, in contrast, is paid for by advertisers (we do not directly control the banner advertising on this blog).

I don't include all US credit card offers available on this site. Instead, I write primarily about cards which earn airline miles, hotel points, and some cash back (or have points that can be converted into the same).

Editorial Note: The opinions, analyses, and evaluations here are mine and not provided by any bank including (but not limited to) American Express, Chase, Citibank, US Bank, Barclays or any other company. They have not reviewed, approved or endorsed what I have to say.

Comments made in response to posts are not provided or commissioned nor have they been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any bank. It is not the responsibility of any advertiser to ensure that questions are answered.